The Royal Danish Ballet has lately acquired Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, and given it new designs. It must be grimly amusing for MacMillan's shade, in the light of certain sniffy notices which greeted the ballet's first performance three decades ago, to see it staged around the world, to continuing acclaim, with ballerinas forming eager queues to try their artistry and their emotions as the irresistible, infuriating heroine.

In Copenhagen's Royal Theatre, with the Danish dancers' long traditions of performing as an expressive ensemble, Manon looked very well last week. The new decorations are by a young designer, Mia Stensgaard, and she has produced austere sets which evoke but do not stress. I thought them very effective.

Denmark's Royal Ballet extended the contract of artistic director Frank Andersen through 2008 From The Copenhagen Post

The Copenhagen-based Royal Theatre, one of Denmark's cultural meccas, announced that it extended the four-year contract of Frank Andersen, artistic director of the world-renowned Royal Danish Ballet Company since 2002, until 2008.

Andersen is a former principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and has several years at the helm of the Swedish Royal Ballet behind him. He will be responsible for the Bournonville Festival in 2005, the bicentenary of the birth of the company's founder, 19th century ballet master August Bournonville.

Tonight marked the 150th anniversary of the very first performance of "A Folk Tale", which took place at Det Kongelige Teater on March 20, 1854. It's not often that one can mark the 150th anniversary of a ballet, let alone in the same theater and with virtually the same choreography.

In honor of the occasion, were were treated to the presence of the costume & set designer, Queen Margrethe II. Champagne was also served to all during the first intermission.

I must admit, that after watching the ballet for the first time last night, I was not overly enthusiastic. But what a difference a day makes....I thought it was wonderful tonight, and not because of cast changes, but more because I could appreciate the details and nuances.

Gudrun Bojeson was again Hilda, her dancing gentle and precise. Mads Blangstrup had wonderful ballon in his dancing, powerful, yet soft in the landings. Peter Bo Bendixen stole the show, as an outrageously bawdy and macho Diderik, demonstrating why a young male troll is every girls worst nightmare.

Kudos to to the dancers in the pas de sept, with Thomas Lund, though the smallest of the men, the highest leaping, and softest landing. Morten Eggert also was excellent in the bravura solo, with fully rotated double tours to neat fifth positions.

I don't yet know his name, but special mention also should be made of the young man in the red vest, in the role of the head of Herr Morgens workers, who is a delightful mime and energetic, crisp dancer.

Greetings! On Sunday, I attended a preview-introduction to Alexei Ratmansky's new production of "Anna Karenina" which premieres here on May 2, 2004.

The introduction by Artistic Director, Frank Andersen, and the interview with the set designer, Mikael Melbye, were in Danish, thus I can't comment on that part. However, since Ratmansky's English is apparently stronger than his Danish, the interview with him was in English

Ratmansky talked about being introduced to the story, both in literature class as a child and also via Maria Plisetskaya's version for the Kirov, but did not actually read the book until much more recently.

In discussing the process, Ratmansky mentioned trying to get 2 or 3 minutes of choreography done a day, but sometimes more, sometimes less. He also admitted that he still has several minutes left to choreograph before the production is finished.

The program ended with Ratmansky coaching Mads Blangstrup and Marie-Pierre Greve in brief excerpts, both from the initial meeting of Bronsky & Anna, and from a later love scene.

The sets will consist, in large part, of projections by Wendell Harrington, and also several of the costumes were on display, including Bronksy's jacket and Anna's bright red dress, both in very lightweight materials.

Greetings! My trip in Copenhagen is coming to a close... Tonight, I'll be watching Kristoffer Sakurai's debut as Gennaro and tomorrow, my last day, I'll be observing auditions for the RDB School!

My one disappointment is that I won't be around for the premiere of "Anna Karenina". The opening night cast is scheduled to be Mads Blangstrup & Marie-Pierre Greve, with Andrew Bowman & Caroline Cavallo another cast. Kenneth Greve will be dancing opposite Nina Ananiashivili, who is here as a guest for several performances. Jean-Lucien Massot and Gitte Lindstrom are another cast, depending on his recovery . Peter Bo Bendixen and Mogens Boesen are splitting the role of Karenin.

If anyone here will see the performance, please post! The ballet has already been scheduled for this August & September, so I hope to see it in the future!

I will post my reviews of Folk Tale and Napoli when they are finished, and look for more complete coverage of the RDB in an upcoming version of Ballet-Dance Magazine!

(Greve was originally cast opposite Gitte Lindstrom ( aside from the one peformance with Ananiashvili), but since the role of Vronsky is very demanding, and Blangstrup is also dancing Gennaro in Napoli, they're probably giving him a rest. Hopefully both Lindstrom and Massot will dance the roles in May or in the fall.

Other dancers appearing in major roles: Peter Bo Bendixen and Mogens Boesen (Karenin), Tina Højlund, Femke Mølbach, Cedric Lambrette, Nicolai Hansen, Claire Still, Alexander Sukonnik and Gudrun Bojeson. Almost the whole corps, and many of the soloists also appear in the ballet.

The major challenges for this production will be the sets, with most of the scenery being provided by projections, and the costumes, since it's difficult to be accurate to the era while making clothing suitable for dancing.

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen March 19 and 24, 2004 “A Folk Tale”

For one raised on the North American dance diet, ranging from Petipa and Ashton to Robbins and Balanchine, a first encounter with the choreography of August Bournonville is an eye opening experience. However, there is no better introduction to Bournonville’s unique blend of dance and mime than the Royal Danish Ballet’s magical version of “A Folk Tale”.

Inspired, in part, by Danish folklore and Hans Christian Anderson fairytales, “A Folk Tale” is a fanciful story about changeling babies, trolls and the power of Christian love. It is one of the few Bournonville ballets to be set in Denmark, and the current 1991 production, staged by Frank Andersen and Anne Marie Vessel Schlüter, is set in the time of Frederik II, 1559-1588. However, Queen Margrethe II, who designed the sets and costumes, did choose keep the villagers in the Bournonville style skirts.

The ballet begins in the country, where Junker Ove, a nobleman, and his tempestuous bride-to-be Birthe are being served lunch. Their elegant picnic takes place in the shadow of hill rumored to be the lair of trolls. Birthe is in fact a troll, switched as baby with the beautiful Hilda, who later becomes the object of Ove’s love. It takes another two acts, but as with all Bournonville ballets (save Les Sylphides) the power of love and Christianity prevail, and Hilda wins the heart and hand of Junker Ove.

In the Bournonville tradition, the ballet is split into distinct dance and mime sections, the mime receiving greater emphasis. Gudrun Bojeson’s Hilda is one of the few characters given extended ballet solos, and with her radiant smile, Bojeson brought a wonderful mix of youth and elegance to the stage. Her solos demonstrated a deep knowledge of the Bournonville aesthetic: her dancing was fast, precise and gave the impression of skimming across the stage, but yet never sacrificing the elegant, but understated epaulment that so vital to the style. Her extended balances were impressive without slipping into flashiness, and one could easily see why Kenneth Greve’s Ove was so instantaneously and completely captivate with this Hilda.

The role of Junker Ove is mostly conveyed through mime, with little dancing other than a short solo in the second act. Greve’s mime was clear and emotive, but at times he seemed to lack a spark to match the humanity and freshness with which Bojeson imbued her role. Yet, with Greve’s unforced regality and his supportive partnering, one could see why Hilda was so enthralled with this Ove.

But, “A Folk Tale” is not just a simple love story, and it is the humor and folk dance which really give life to the story. The corps de ballets were outstanding in the first act, bringing energy and enthusiasm to the rollicking, heel tapping folk dances. The dancers seemed to relish in the characterizations, demonstrating their well-honed mime skills and excellent comic timing. Dawid Kupinski stood out in a brief solo, and his role as the impish leaders of the villagers.

Kenn Hauge and Mogens Boesen brought the troll brothers, Viderik and Diderik to colorful, outrageous life. A bold and delightfully rapscallious Diderik, Boesen looked especially outlandish in his red and purple party cloak, and seemed to have much fun with all the little details in the party scene. Hauge was especially endearing as the trodden upon younger brother, Viderik, but still devilish enough to be believable in his bewitching of the peasants and helping Hilda to escape. Though small in stature, Eva Kloborg was a commanding presence as Muri, the troll sorceress, needing but a steely glance to control her trollish offspring.

Closing out the second act, the troll engagement party scene is uproarious, but delightfully outrageous bash! The comically grotesque party guests comprise the full range of trolls and other fairy tale creatures, each brought to live by inventive costumes and characterizations. The dancers seemed to be having a great deal o fun animating the outlandish characters. Equally enjoyably comic was Gitte Lindstrøm’s Birthe, the troll baby brought up as a woman of the nobility. Yet, no amount of proper upbringing could hide her trollish nature, and Lindstrøm was wonderful in her wild, high kicking dances and temper tantrums, interspersed with moments of near complete grace. Feisty, wacky, tempestuous and what a head of red hair! Louise Midjord was also notable as Birthe’s put-upon maid, who takes the brunt of the trollish temper tantrums.

The final wedding scene brought the ballet to an elegant and festive end. Of all Queen Margrethe’s costume creations, Hilda’s wedding dress is by far the most stunning. A long shimmering pale blue gown over a pink underdress, it is embroidered at the bodice, sleeves and hems with pastel shaded flowers. Hilda’s bridesmaids, danced by the older of the many, wonderfully rehearsed, Royal Danish Ballet school students, were dressed in similar dresses, though simpler and of a different shade.

The pas de sept was agilely performed by Nicolai Hansen, Thomas Lund, Vincent Van Webber, Susanne Grinder, Camilla Holst, Tina Højlund and Amy Watson on Friday, and Andrew Bowman, Morten Eggert, Kristoffer Sakurai, and Diana Cuni, Holst, Højlund and Grinder on Wednesday. All are well schooled in the Bournonville style, but Lund stood out for his gravity-defying ballon. Wednesday’s male cast was superb, with Bowman’s beautifully finished double tours to fifth, Sakurai’s power and fast feet and Eggert’s energy. Watson, Højlund and Cuni stood out among the women.

Bournonville liked a happy ending, and here even the trolls find joy in the end. So to, does one fortunate enough to see the Royal Danish Ballet in “A Folk Tale”!

The lighting designer was Steen Njarke, with the Royal Opera House Orchestra conducted by Robert Reimer playing Niels Gade and JPE Hartmann’s music.

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Theatre-Gamle Scene March 27, 2004 “Napoli”

In Saturday night’s performance of ‘Napoli”, Copenhagen audiences saw one of the major debuts of the 2003-04 ballet season as talented corps member Kristoffer Sakurai danced the role of Gennaro for the first time.

“Napoli”, a fanciful tale about Gennaro, a fisherman and Teresina, his true love, is considered to be one of the classic Bournonville ballets, but paradoxically, it is also one that has seen the many changes over the years. Bournonville himself played around with the choreography while he was still alive, and later stagers, notably, Hans Beck, added their own touches. Today, the first and third acts are largely intact, but the original second act has been completely lost. For the current production, staged by Frank Andersen, Eva Kloborg and Anne Marie Vessel Schlüter, a new second act was choreographed by Dinna Bjorn.

The ballet opens in a bustling harbor square on the beach of San Lucia in Naples, as Gennaro returns with the day’s catch. In one of the most dramatic balletic entrances, he leaps out towards the audience from the crowd of fisherman in the classic Bournonville grand jete croisé en avant. From this joyous beginning, Sakurai showed a fine grasp of the distinctive Bournonville mime and dance styles. He is an elegantly proportioned dancer, with a youthful energy tempered by a careful attention to detail.

Tina Højlund’s Teresina was a spirited lass, a perfect match for Sakurai’s hearty, youthful Gennaro. The extended fight between Teresina and her widowed mother, Veronica, allowed Højlund to show her wonderful mimetic skills, the emotions from joy to love to frustration to anger flickering across her face. Eva Kloborg was an authoritative, but obviously caring Veronica, with Niels Balle, Mogens Boesen and Kenn Hauge excellent in other character roles. The ballabile was energetically and solidly danced.

The depth of the Gamle Scene stage is used to great advantage in the second act, which takes place in the mysterious Blue Grotto, the lair of the sea spirit, Golfo. The seemingly interwoven layers of deep blue-green set give a realistic texture and feeling to the Grotto. In this enchanted cave, the sea-nymphs dance gracefully, helping Golfo, danced with regal authority by Kenneth Greve, to weave a spell around Teresina. Though there was the occasional odd foot or arm position, the female corps was solid in Bjørn’s precise and slightly ethereal choreography. In the end, with aid of an amulet bearing the image of Madonna, his love and a fantastic costume change, Gennaro is able to break Golfo’s spell and the lovers escape the Grotto and set sail to Napoli.

With the lovers reunited, the third act is a joyous, festive celebration of love, life and dance. With a host of children watching eagerly from the bridge, the whole village eventually joins in the celebration. The main dances combine a pas de sept with the traditional Italian Tarantella, the pas de sept added in the 19th century by Hans Beck. Now coached in part by principal Thomas Lund, the pas de sept was danced by Martin Stauning, Diana Cuni, Andrew Bowman, Susanne Grinder, Amy Watson, Nicolai Hansen and Claire Still. In the first solo, Stauning had boyish enthusiasm and good epaulment, but needs to be slightly quieter in the torso. Andrew Bowman showed off great power and double tours easily rotated back into neat fifth position. Among the women, Amy Watson stood out for her joyous manner and sparkling footwork.

In his solo, Sakurai demonstrated both his current talent and his future potential. He has nice elevation, elegant epaulment and crisp footwork, and it all came together in the difficult solo. Yet he clearly has more to give, and with a bit more experience in the role, Sakurai should be able fine-tune the few less-than-smooth edges that remain. Højlund soared through her solo, her dancing mixing crisp steps and fluid connections. Esther Wilkinson and the energetic Morten Eggert started the cast in the spectacular Tarantella, which spreads to involve all the dancers, firing guns and confetti. A spectacular end to a wonderful ballet with an outstanding debut!

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Theatre-Gamle Scene March 20, 2004 “A Folk Tale”

On Saturday night, the Royal Danish Ballet celebrated a very special occasion in ballet history. The evening marked the 150th anniversary of the first performance of August Bournonville’s “A Folk Tale”, which premiered on March 20, 1854 in the Royal Theatre. Not many ballets have survived for 150 years, and only a very few have been performed continually by the same company in the same theater, on the same stage, with virtually the same choreography. Thus, this was truly a remarkable event, and one clearly treasured by all involved.

In honor of the occasion, Queen Margrethe II, who designed the sets and costumes for the current production, attended the performance, and champagne was served to all during the intermissions. The importance of the night and the presence of Queen seemed to inspire the dancers, who were, without exception, outstanding.

Heading the exceptional cast were Mads Blangstrup and Gudrun Bojeson, as Junker Ove and Hilda. Blangstrup was a handsome and gracious Junker Ove, and in his brief solo demonstrated the qualities that have made him such a fine interpreter of Bournonville roles. His jumps and beats had an airy, easy quality, and great power and ballon without huge preparations or obvious strain. Bojeson, with her radiant smile, again seemed to skim the stage with each step, mixing delicacy and a crisp, controlled power

A truly entertaining pair of troll brothers, Lis Jeppesen and Peter Bo Bendixen gave the roles of Diderik and Viderik their own unique stamp. Jeppesen’s rather petite Viderik, was endearing and mournful-eyed, a dramatic contrast with Bendixen’s macho Diderik. With a piercing, mischievous glint in his eyes, and a trollish swagger to his step, Bendixen made it quite clear why an eligible male troll is every woman’s worst nightmare. This was clearly not a creature Hilda was ever going to accept a ring from, let alone marry! Jette Buchwald’s Muri was appropriately domineering and unlovable.

Led by Bendixen’s humorously macho and increasingly “drunken” dancing, the troll engagement party was an outrageous and festive occasion. From the droopy busted troll with a gaggle of little trolls clinging to her tail, to the three headed troll to the bushy bearded Viking troll, each creature was acted and danced with droll humor.

As Frøken Birthe, Tina Højlund’s was appropriately moody and tempestuous, terrifying the maids with her fits of trollish pique. Højlund also was notable for her limb flailing dancing, drawing out the contrast in Birthe’s fine upbringing and trollish underpinnings in the lightning fast switches between elegant dancing and trollish hoofing!

The crisp, stylish pas de sept, danced by Nicolai Hansen, Morten Eggert, Thomas Lund, Susanne Grinder, Claire Still, Julie Strandberg and Amy Watson, radiated good-natured energy. Morten Eggert stood out for his fast turns a la seconde, but it was Thomas Lund who really commanded the stage with his seemingly effortless, stunningly high jumps, nimble, but controlled footwork and quiet, elegant epaulment. Lund, one of the company’s top Bournonville dancers, now also instructs the corps in Bournonville, and one can only hope that he will be able to pass on his obvious respect and deep knowledge of the technique to the next generations of dancers.

As for the current, dancers, this fine performance on such a special occasion seems to indicate their deep respect for and knowledge of the Bournonville style and tradition. May “ A Folk Tale” be so well cared for in it’s next 150 years.

Greetings! Well, it sounds like people enjoyed the premiere of "Anna Karenina", which make me happy! My impressions come only from rehearsals, but I really liked what I saw. The ballet sticks primarily to the love story between Anna and Vronsky, as the limits of time and ballet staging make it necessary to shed a lot of the other story lines in the book. Try to tell too much, and the audience will get confused.

I thought Marie Pierre Greve was perfect as Anna Karenina-she has the right brittleness & delicacy, but an inner power, which comes out in her dancing. Mads Blangstrup is a handsome and moving Vronksy-you can see his passion and why Anna would fall so completely for him. Blangstrup is also a very solid partner, and handled all the tricky partnering well, and knows how to be dramatic without overdoing it. They are definately the cast I want to see in an actual performance-the other cast I saw was good, but didn't have quite the same effect.

My favorite scenes were the ones with the train and the one at the race track. The train is visually stunning-nearly full size, and three sided. It turns completely around on stage to reveal the dancers sitting within, and slides off the rear of the stage (because Gamle Scene is also used for the opera, there's plenty of space backstage) in clouds of fog. Combined with the projection (movie) of the swirling snow, it almost makes you shiver, and the haunting feeling reminds you of what it yet to come. The race scene, to me, is some of Ratmansky's best choreography. He uses his dancers, the young officers, as both riders and horses, their grand jetes, tours and tricks across the stage, the horses leaping over the jumps. The set is simple, with most of the scenery provided by the projections on the backs and sides of the stage, which are at times animated. Some of them were a little hard to make out, and one needs to sit center or a bit sudience right to have the best view. But, the projections provide a way to have a great backdrops that can be switched quickly-Ratmansky's scenes tend to be short, and switch quickly. At times, the switches could be a bit confusing, but the story holds together well enough. Each scene seems to have one prop-the racing ground fence, Karenin's big desk, and this minimal use of props makes for a pleasing simplicity, giving you setting while letting the dance take center stage. Peter Bo Bendixen has the right emotional (though cold and chilly emotion) punch as Karenin.

This is the first I've seen of Ratmasnky's choreography, and I like it. He knows what he wants, and I think he's done a job getting it in this production. He moves groups around nicely, with good corps sequences in the opera scene and at the races, and his choreography for Anna and Vronsky is heart-wrenching-it soars and comes crashing back down to earth-like the ups and downs of their tragic relationship.

I don't know how the costumes will look in an actual performances, but they are all very delicate, made of very thing, translucent material. The women's dresses are all shorter than would have actually been to allow them to dance. Kate

Mads Blangstrup, Andrew Bowman, Tina Højlund and Amy Watson are performing this weekend at Dance Salas in Houston. Bowman & Watson are dancing the pdd from Martins' "Octet" and Blangstrup & Højlund, Rushton's "Nomade". Neither was mentioned in the review of the first night, but Houston audiendes were/are definately in for a treat, as these are four of top talents at the RDB! It's great timing for the event, since the RDB doesn't perform between April 6-15, and has Easter Break from April 8-12, so other than some nasty jet lag, it won't affect scheduling back in Copenhagen.

Casting for Anna Karenina has been posted for the rest of the 2003-04 season. Contrary to what I think were original plans, Nina Ananiashvili is not doing a second performance, and Kenneth Greve is dancing his other performances opposite his wife. Due to Jean-Lucien Massot's injury, GItte Lindstrom will be dancing with Andrew Bowman, doing the last three performances, making her debut as Anna on April 19.

Blangstrup's last performance (this season) is on the 20th, which makes sense as he dances Gennaro in "Napoli" on April 22 & 23 and will probably be cast in "Abdallah".

Casting is:

Cavallo, Bowman: April 15, 24 Greve, Blangstrup: April 20 Greve, Greve: April 26, April 28 Lindstrom, Bowman: April 19, May 1, May 5

Greetings! William Littler reviews "Anna Karenina" and "Napoli" in the Toronto Star. This was, incidentally, the same performance of Napoli that I saw on my trip!

Corrections: Ratmansky is still a principal dancer with the company through the end of the 03-04 season, but the leaves to direct the Bolshoi. Also, the train car is NOT on a turntable-the ballet stage covers the one used by the opera. The car is turned & moved via two built in golf carts operated by remote control. In any case, if it were on a turntable, the train car would not be able to roll off the back of the stage or move forward on the stage, both of which is does without a hitch!

I am pleased that at least *one* North American paper saw fit to send someone to Copenhagen to cover this opening. It sounds like one of the more successful attempts at a full-length narrative ballet within recent memory. Glad to hear that things are working so well for you there, Kate!

Congratulations to RDB dancers Thomas Lund and Yao Wei, who were honored at last night's Arets Reumert (Reumert Awards), the Danish performing arts awards!! The ceremony took place at The Royal Theatre-Gamle Scene, where the RDB performs.

Lund received the best dancer award for his performances in "Napoli" and "La Sylphide". He had been nominated in 2002, but Silja Schandorff received the award that year.

Yao Wei received one of the Reumert Talent Prizes for her performances in "Nutcracker" and "Octet". Previous talent prize winners from the RDB include Kristoffer Sakurai (2003), Morten Eggert (2000) and Tina Hojlund (1999).

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